1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scintillator which emits light when radiation is applied thereto, and a radiation detector using the scintillator.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner used in clinical practice or the like, X-rays which pass through a subject are received by a scintillator, and light emitted from the scintillator is detected by photodetectors. The detectors are arranged as a two-dimensional array, and the scintillator is partitioned by partition walls so that crosstalks between light beams are not caused. It is desired that the partition walls be formed as thin as possible because the partition walls do not contribute to the X-ray detection but degrade the spatial resolution. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-145335, multiple scintillator crystals are joined to one another with an adhesive to form a scintillator array 70, the adhesive is etched out thereafter, and a gap formed by the etching is filled with titanium oxide powder as a partition wall material (FIG. 7). It is disclosed that, in this case, the thickness of partition walls 71 may be reduced as small as about 1 μm.
However, the partitions walls 71 disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-145335 may be formed so as to be thin, but cannot be eliminated. Further, the manufacturing step takes a lot of time and effort, including cutting of the scintillator and joining of the scintillator crystals for forming the partition walls.